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Tensions on the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking: "We fear for human lives"

2020-07-04T23:53:51.783Z


Since Thursday, the humanitarian ship, blocked in international waters with 180 migrants on board, deplores an increase in tensions. The team


Just as much as this SOS, sent Friday from international waters, the fears hanging over the safety of the more than 200 occupants of the Ocean Viking, in the midst of an epidemic, are unprecedented. For the first time since the start of humanitarian activities, four and a half years ago, SOS Méditerranée, the NGO which chartered this ship, declared it in a state of emergency.

On board, part of the 180 migrants, rescued at sea between June 25 and 30, are in the grip of such intense psychological distress, after trying weeks spent most often in Libya, that some have attempted suicide, even have threatened the crew, reports this Saturday Laurence Bondard, spokesperson for SOS Mediterranean.

"This morning, after a relatively calm night, certain tensions have again risen," depicts this activist present on the boat, who relates that 44 passengers crystallize the concerns of the lifeguards.

Six suicide attempts in 24 hours

“It is extremely stressful, there are survivors who are in acute psychological distress. Some express suicidal intentions. They expressed a risk of harming themselves and potentially others. Some also threatened members of the team, "warns Laurence Bondard, who says he does not feel" completely safe ".

She sadly lists: "In 24 hours, there were six suicide attempts, two people jumped into the water and were fortunately able to be recovered, three others could be intercepted just in time, another attempted to kill themselves … ”. The latter attempted to hang himself on the deck of the boat.

In 24 hours, six migrants attempted suicide on the boat / Flavio Gasperini / SOS Méditerranée  

Sophie Beau, director general of the NGO SOS Mediterranean, describes "a group of around forty people, without a leader, who are in a delusional state". "They are out of control and pose a danger to themselves, to their own integrity and to the team," she worries. Some refuse to take medication. As long as they have not landed, they will represent a danger for the other survivors. Only one migrant, who suffered from a high fever, was able to be evacuated earlier this week.

For the moment, the Ocean Viking, which is 30 km from the Italian coast, off Sicily and in the midst of significant waves, remains at an impasse: Italy and Malta, the two closest countries, objected to his seven requests for accosting. The other requested countries, including France, remain silent. So Friday, SOS Mediterranean requested that its 44 passengers in psychological distress be disembarked as an emergency. But there again, it was a refusal that was addressed to them. However, Italy has sent a doctor and a mediator to the ship.

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A situation also denounced by the NGO Amnesty International, which demanded this Saturday morning that France intervene "with the Italian and Maltese authorities so that people can disembark without delay in a safe port" and undertakes "to accommodate a certain number of these people. "

"They could see the European coasts so close ..."

"There was no tipping point, the situation dragged on," attempts to analyze Sophie Beau, of SOS Mediterranean, to explain the appearance of tensions. “The first people rescued at sea were on June 25, so some have been on the boat for nine days and have drifted for four days before that. It is very long for people who are already in catastrophic psychological and psychological suffering. The majority of these migrants - 25 of whom are minors, sometimes unaccompanied, with a 12-year-old son - fled Libya and its chaos, where murders, rapes and rapes of migrants are frequent. These are mainly Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Tunisians and Egyptians, details the NGO, which also mentions the presence of two women, one of whom is five months pregnant.

“They are coming back from Libya and the camps. They have experienced unimaginable violence, ”adds Sophie Beau, who criticizes“ total cynicism of the authorities ”. "They were able to see the European coasts so closely ... and we must explain to them that we cannot dock, that these are political decisions. Inevitably, there is no rationality that is enough to calm their anxieties, their exasperation and their incomprehension. So, for some, the anxiety of the first days increased and became angry, to the point of trying everything for everything. "Some people jumped and told us that they wanted to swim to the coast, while they are 30 km away, two started a hunger strike," said the director of SOS Mediterranean, who said she feared "for human lives on board "and proclaims its" fear that it will degenerate ".

"They sleep on the ground, it's very hot ..."

The coronavirus pandemic has not helped the situation. Italy and Malta have decided to maintain the ban, which was imposed in April, on welcoming migrants to their ports. On board, wearing a mask is compulsory, despite the dizzying heat and the sanitary equipment worn by lifeguards "makes human contacts more complicated," notes Sophie Beau. The nine members of the flight crew should not come into contact with the migrants, in order to avoid any possible contamination.

The living conditions on this boat are spartan. Flavio Gasperini / SOS Mediterranean  

Pending authorization to dock in one of the Mediterranean ports, the next few days look tense. “A survivor told me when I woke up this morning We don't feel safe. Since two people jumped out of the boat, the first thing they think about is: What's going to happen now? This increases anxiety among survivors, and their memories of what may have happened before, in their country at war, in Libya, or at sea, resurface, "tells us Laurence Bondard, from the Ocean Viking.

To reassure passengers, the crew has strengthened its presence on deck, "night and day" and remains "very vigilant to prevent a drama from happening," she says. But how long can such a situation last? "A boat is not a place where you can stay for a long time," protested the spokeswoman. Even less in the conditions in which they are. They sleep on the ground, on the aft deck, it's very hot ... ”

She insists, about "these people who have seen death very closely": "They cannot rest under these conditions, they absolutely have to disembark, be taken care of. "

Source: leparis

All life articles on 2020-07-04

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